Paolo and Gianna have been happily married for twenty-two years. They have two children: Anna, who’s twenty, is engaged to Sandro, a young lawyer; Umberto, fourteen, is still in school. Their lives are calm and tranquil until one evening Gianna and her daughter surprise Paolo and Sandro in the middle of an intimate moment. Anna takes back her fiancé Sandro and forgives him, because they’re expecting a child. But Gianna files for divorce. She’s a biochemist and now that she’s newly single, she decides to travel with her supervisor, Professor Ruggieri, to Zimbabwe. Ruggeri has been in love with Gianna for years, and finally has the chance to tell her. Gianna wants to cut her trip short and return to Italy. But as she’s waiting to leave gels news that her daughter has been killed in a car accident. Gianna discovers that she’s pregnant and gives birth to a baby. Professor Ruggeri refuses to recognize the child as his own. Gianna learns that Anna didn’t die in a car crash but actually committed suicide. Anna’s new-born baby dies. Desperate, she will die on her daughter’s tomb.